Rodale's Chemical-Free Yard and Garden: The Ultimate Authority on Successful Organic Gardening - Hardcover

For years chemical-free or organic gardening was ridiculed as a radical backwater, but Rodale Press was a never-wavering advocate. Now that environmental, ecological, and health issues have made such gardening fashionable, Rodale continues to lead the way. This compendium, based on earlier editions such as The Organic Way to Plant Protection (1966) and Organic Plant Protection (1976), contains the latest information about biological controls, insect barriers, and the importance of healthy soil. Dealing primarily with pest and disease management, it addresses vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees and shrubs, and lawns, and is complete within its scope. A more comprehensive book, with information about planting, culture, and varieties, is Tanya Denckla's Gardening at a Glance ( LJ 2/1/91). Libraries should buy both; if the budget allows for just one, Denckla is the better choice.
- Carol Cub berley, Cook Memorial Lib., Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Open this book to almost any chapter, and you'll find fascinating, well-organized know-how on every aspect of gardening organically. Although perhaps a bit daunting for the novice, the book presents the equivalent of a college-level course in ecologically sound garden management. Words of encouragement occur frequently--to balance bad news about pests and diseases, and to guide the hardcore "chemical" gardener out of his or her bad habits. Chapters on specific plants--vegetables, flowers, ornamental trees, shrubs and fruit trees--explain disease problems and list many disease-resistant cultivars for each group. Exact cultural techniques are not provided, but that is beyond the scope of the book. Instead, readers receive sound counsel on soil improvement, fertilizers, weed control, homemade insect sprays and a good deal more.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.